Remember Baker (June, 1737 – August 12, 1775) was a member of the
Green Mountain BoysThe Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
. He was born in
Roxbury, ConnecticutRoxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,136 at the 2000 census.-History:Roxbury, whose Indian name was "Shepaug", a Mohegan name signifiying "rocky water", was settled about the year 1713...
(then part of Woodbury) and died in
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The son of Remember Baker and Tamar Warner, he was a first cousin of
Ethan AllenEthan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician....
and
Seth WarnerThis article is not about the mathematician Seth Warner, author of several textbooks, in particular about topological rings.Seth Warner was born in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 1763, he removed with his father to Bennington in what was then the ‘New Hampshire Grants’...
.
Remember Baker, Jr. was described by a cousin as a tough,
redheadedRed hair varies from a deep orange-red through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. People with red hair are often referred to as redheads.Approximately 1% to 2% of the human...
,
freckleFreckles are clusters of concentrated melanin which are most often visible on people with a fair complexion. A freckle is also called an "ephelis."-Biology:...
-faced young giant. He enlisted as a private in a company of provincial troops in 1755. In 1757, he was stationed at
Fort William HenryFort William Henry was a British fort on the shores of Lake George, New York. It was built during the French and Indian War by Sir William Johnson as a staging ground for attacks against the French Fort Carillon . It was part of a chain of British and French forts along the important inland...
, at the head of
Lake GeorgeLake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes,
[Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce, , Retrieved May 12, 2008; Albany International Airport, , 2004. Retrieved May 12, 2008; The Hyde Collection, , September, 2005...]
, and during that year participated in battles which went badly for the provincial troops.
In 1758, he enlisted a second time in the expedition of
General AbercrombieJames Abercrombie or Abercromby was a British Army general and commander-in-chief of forces in North America during the French and Indian War, best known for the disastrous British losses in the 1758 Battle of Carillon....
in his attempted invasion of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, then held by the French.
Remember Baker (June, 1737 – August 12, 1775) was a member of the
Green Mountain BoysThe Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
. He was born in
Roxbury, ConnecticutRoxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,136 at the 2000 census.-History:Roxbury, whose Indian name was "Shepaug", a Mohegan name signifiying "rocky water", was settled about the year 1713...
(then part of Woodbury) and died in
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The son of Remember Baker and Tamar Warner, he was a first cousin of
Ethan AllenEthan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician....
and
Seth WarnerThis article is not about the mathematician Seth Warner, author of several textbooks, in particular about topological rings.Seth Warner was born in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 1763, he removed with his father to Bennington in what was then the ‘New Hampshire Grants’...
.
Remember Baker, Jr. was described by a cousin as a tough,
redheadedRed hair varies from a deep orange-red through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. People with red hair are often referred to as redheads.Approximately 1% to 2% of the human...
,
freckleFreckles are clusters of concentrated melanin which are most often visible on people with a fair complexion. A freckle is also called an "ephelis."-Biology:...
-faced young giant. He enlisted as a private in a company of provincial troops in 1755. In 1757, he was stationed at
Fort William HenryFort William Henry was a British fort on the shores of Lake George, New York. It was built during the French and Indian War by Sir William Johnson as a staging ground for attacks against the French Fort Carillon . It was part of a chain of British and French forts along the important inland...
, at the head of
Lake GeorgeLake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes,
[Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce, , Retrieved May 12, 2008; Albany International Airport, , 2004. Retrieved May 12, 2008; The Hyde Collection, , September, 2005...]
, and during that year participated in battles which went badly for the provincial troops.
In 1758, he enlisted a second time in the expedition of
General AbercrombieJames Abercrombie or Abercromby was a British Army general and commander-in-chief of forces in North America during the French and Indian War, best known for the disastrous British losses in the 1758 Battle of Carillon....
in his attempted invasion of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, then held by the French. He was part of a band of 100 men under command of Major Putnam and accompanied by
Lord HoweGeorge Augustus Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe was a career officer and a Brigadier General in the British Army.He was described by James Wolfe as "the best officer in the British Army"...
that went on a scouting expedition. They were surprised by a party of 500 of the enemy and Lord Howe was killed. Putnam and Baker and their men cut their way through the French ranks, charged them in the rear, and after being reinforced killed 300 of the enemy and captured 143 prisoners. Baker received honorable mention in the report of the commanding general. He remained in the service until the close of the year 1759.
He and Desire Hurlbut were married in Roxbury on April 3 1760. In 1764, Remember, Desire and their small son Ozi moved to Arlington, now in Vermont, and built a grist mill. This was in response to an offer of from the town to anyone who would start a mill there. This mill burned down in 1789; a mill built in the 1790’s is still there. Remember’s cousins
Ethan AllenEthan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician....
and
Ira AllenIra Allen was one of the founders of Vermont, and leaders of the Green Mountain Boys; and was the brother of Ethan Allen.-Biography:He was a member of the Vermont Legislature, in 1776-1777...
also settled in Arlington. Remember Baker was the first town clerk of Arlington.
The Bakers and the Allens were involved in the controversy over the title of the settlers of Vermont to their land, and Baker became a captain in one of the companies of the
Green Mountain BoysThe Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
. Remember is said to have been more hot headed than the Allens and
Seth WarnerThis article is not about the mathematician Seth Warner, author of several textbooks, in particular about topological rings.Seth Warner was born in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 1763, he removed with his father to Bennington in what was then the ‘New Hampshire Grants’...
. Following attacks on those loyal to New York, the Governor of New York offered an award for the capture of Ethan Allen, Remember Baker, and others. On March 21 1771, men from New York under the leadership of John Munro attacked Baker's mill and took Baker away as a prisoner. In the fight, Baker lost a thumb and his wife injured her arm jumping out of a window. She never fully recovered the use of that arm. Remember was taken across the New York border. The Green Mountain Boys rescued Baker and returned him to his family.
By May, 1773, Ira Allen and Remember Baker, as the Allen and Baker Land Co., owned some of virgin land along the
Winooski RiverThe Winooski River is a tributary of Lake Champlain, approximately 90 miles long, in northern Vermont in the United States. Although not Vermont's longest river, it is one of the state's most significant, forming a major valley way from Lake Champlain through the Green Mountains towards the...
, near
Burlington, VermontBurlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. With a population of 38,889 at the 2000 census, the city is the core of one of the nation's smaller metropolitan areas, and is also the smallest U.S. city to be the largest city in its state...
. That year there were no roads north of
CastletonCastleton is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. Castleton is about to the west of Rutland, and about east of the New York/Vermont state border. With a population of 4,367 at the 2000 census, the town is home to Castleton State College, the oldest college in Vermont, and...
, and Baker and Allen cut a road through the forest for seventy miles so that supplies could be brought in from
Lake ChamplainLake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada – United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
. In the summer, they settled on their land and built a log house across the river from Burlington. Ira Allen was unmarried and lived with the Bakers.
Remember Baker joined Ethan Allen for the capture of
Fort TiconderogaFort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century fort built at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York...
in 1775. He and Seth Warner met at
Crown Point, New YorkCrown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 2,119 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, "Point au Chevalure."...
and captured the garrison there. Following that, he served as a scout for General Phillip Schuyler in the area around St. John's, where the English troops and Native Americans were camped.
Around August 19 1775, Baker left Ticonderoga for another scouting expedition along the
Richelieu RiverThe Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about 171 km north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...
. On August 22, he was shot and killed by Indians who had taken his boat. The Indians plundered the body, cut off Baker's head, raised it upon a pole and carried it in triumph to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which horrified the British officers there. They bought it from the Indians and buried it, and also sent some men to the point to bury the body.